Guest column...
The Church that plays together
by Molly Baskette
I thought it would be nice to share some thoughts from others in this space during at least some of Lent. This piece was sent to me by Betty Lane of Christ Church.
Fr. Chip
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Jesus called a child, whom he put among them, and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:2-3 4:1
As a young doctor, Stuart Brown was doing research into the character of murderers who otherwise had no criminal history. He discovered something amazing, a common thread in 90% of their stories: as children, their play was severely restricted.
Brown, a workaholic, spent many more decades studying play. He learned that children grow empathy through the rough-and-tumble of play, that play lowers stress (duh!), that play makes us more innovative and helps us adapt to change. He finally got the message, and started to play more.
Lent is all about being more grownup, right? Serious as a heart attack, grave as the grave.
But at church, the hub of much of our spiritual practice, how many of us talk exclusively about the "work" of the church? We often treat the stuff we do at church as a kind of bitter endurance contest.
How often does the phrase "play of the church" enter our vocabulary? What if we played all-ages kickball after church on summer Sundays? Or had adult time in the bouncy house at the block party? Or a polar bear swim at the winter retreat on Cape Cod? Or threw an awkward dance party with bubble machine and disco ball, watched the kids go crazy, and went crazy with them? I have photographic evidence that all these are possible, and more.
Play, Brown said, is any activity that is purposeless, dissolves ego boundaries, and brings joy. I would add: it's also an activity that delights God, who, after all, was the first one to play. What was the Creation, after all?
Notes from the Feb. 24 Bishop's Committee meeting
Our February meeting was held one week later than usual due to Shrove Tuesday. The meeting, held at Trinity Church, opened with a reflection on winter (physical and spiritual) by Trinity's Senior Warden, Patrice Wood.
A major function of this meeting was to organize the Bishop's Committee for the new year. We reviewed "ground rules" for respectful discussion and healthy discourse; assigned Bishop's Committee liaisons to each of our committees and ministries in the two churches (see below); and did some "housekeeping" for the benefit of the Committee.
We spent some time making evaluative comments on our recent Mutual Ministry Review retreat. It was considered an excellent gathering and process and the follow-up team set a first meeting date for their work.
We reviewed the annual Parochial Reports from each congregation. Both grew (Trinity more so than Christ Church) in 2014 and start the new year in healthy condition. We should know the results of our Fair Share adjustment request by mid-March.
The individual Bishop's Committees then met in separate session:
- Trinity Church's group heard an update on the Hobbs House accessibility project, work for which was to begin the next day. They also discussed fund-raising efforts to pay for the recent extra snow removal. Over half the needed amount has already been donated. There was some discussion about whether or not to reconsider having a Junior Warden. We will monitor things and decide later in the year.
- Christ Church's committee discussed the upcoming Capital Campaign in that congregation, and set an April 19 date for kicking off the formal planning process. In the meantime, we will recruit chairs for the various aspects of the team. A policy for pre-approving large purchases was set: a $250 threshold was set. Permission for a community group to use the church facilities for a bone marrow drive on May 30 was given.
Full minutes will be posted in each church as they become available. The March meeting will be on the 17th at Christ Church at 7 p.m.
Christ Church ministry liaisons for 2015
Ministry
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Coordinator
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2015 BC Liaison
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Altar Guild
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Liz Malone
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Suzanne George
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Buildings & Grounds
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Craig Davis/Paul Seward
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Craig Davis
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Children's Faith Form.
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Lynda Swartz
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Suzanne George
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Coffee Hour
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Peter Monte
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Peter Monte
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Church Use
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Glen Flowers
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Sarah Wolf Boyd
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Communications
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Liza McGuckin
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Lynda Swartz
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Diocesan Delegation
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Convention Delegates
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Craig Davis
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Fundraising
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Tena Wolf
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Lynda Swartz
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Hospitality/Meals
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Peter Monte
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Melanie Harden
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Little Blessings Board
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Chuck Ott/Susan Ott
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still needed
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Safe Church Minister
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Patsy Tremblay
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Sarah Wolf Boyd
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Soup Kitchen
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Susan Ott
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Peter Monte
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Stewardship
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Kris Ebbeson
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Jim Sparrell
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Worship
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Betty Lane
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Sarah Wolf Boyd
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Trinity Church ministry liaisons for 2015
Ministry
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Coordinator
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2015 BC Liaison
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Altar Guild
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Alberta True
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Robert Bischoff
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Adult Ed,/Bible Study
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Mike Spinelli
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Gordon Lane
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Buildings & Grounds
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John Normand
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Patrice Wood
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Children's Faith Form.
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Needed
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Wesley Rowe
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Coffee Hour
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Patrice Wood/Wesley Rowe
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Wesley Rowe
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Come and See
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Gordon Lane
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Gordon Lane
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Communications
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Patrice Wood
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Hope Murray
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Diocesan Delegation
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Convention Delegates
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Robert Bischoff
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Food Pantry/Outreach
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Sandi Nickerson
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Diana Jodoin
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Fundraising
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Patrice Wood
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Hope Murray
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Hampton N. Home Svc.
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Bob Main
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None needed
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Prayer Ministry
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Anne Newell
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None needed
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Pastoral Care
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Ginnie-Lee McCaddin
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Gordon Lane
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Safe Church Minister
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Sherry Kellett
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Wesley Rowe
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Soup Kitchen
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Ginnie-Lee McCaddin
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Hope Murray
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Stewardship
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To be determined
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To be determined
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Worship
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G. Lane, comm. chair; P. Bischoff, scheduler
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Gordon Lane
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"Spring Forward" this Saturday night!
This weekend, Daylight Savings Time begins.
Be sure to set your clocks forward one hour before retiring Saturday night, March 7.
Amare Cantare concert coming to Christ Church
Amare Cantare welcomes special guest artists Catherine York on piano and the Artful Noise String Quartet to accompany the choir for Mozart's Misericordias Domini and Fern Hill by John Corigliano, a lyrical setting of Dylan Thomas's poem about his pastoral childhood in Wales. The program also includes Samuel Barber's a cappella Reincarnations and Four Slovak Folk Songs by B�la Bart�k, accompanied by Ms. York. A special feature of the concert will be Artful Noise's performance of Land of Pure Delight: Shaker Songs and Dances for String Quartet by New England's own Kevin Siegfried.
The concert at Christ Church will be on Wednesday April 1, at 7:30 p.m. General Admission: $15 at the door, $12 in advance. Seniors and Students: $12 at the door, $10 in advance. Advance tickets are available at: Baldface Books, Dover; Flower Kiosk, Portsmouth; Water Street Books, Exeter; Durham Book Exchange, Durham. For more information see www.amarecantare.org.
Our Lenten series for 2015 continues
Our Lenten series for 2015, "The Parables of Lent," focuses on a series of biblical parables that connect to Lenten themes.
Meditations by renowned Lutheran theologian Dean Nadasdy speak of how each parable's plot is a unique message about what we receive through the crucified Christ.
Parishioners can take the message with them to enrich their own stories of faith in Christ as they journey through Lent.
Christ Church: Soup and bread luncheon and session at noon on five Sundays. (We promise to wait for the end of choir rehearsal to actually begin our sessions!)
Trinity Church: Soup and bread supper and session on five Wednesday evenings at 6:00.
Coming up next: "Receive Mercy: The Parable of the Good Samaritan"
- Sunday, March 8 at noon, Christ Church
- Wednesday, March 11 at 6 p.m., Trinity Church
Week Three in The Parables of Lent is based on the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, a man beaten on the road gets help from an unlikely traveler. The service includes a reading from Scripture, a meditation, and a thematic Bible study that helps us to remember that we who are often beaten down along the road of life encounter the healing of Christ through the cross.
Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer
Each week, in both of our churches, we pray for one ministry we share and one or two households in each church. About once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.
In our prayers the next two weeks, we give God thanks for...
Mar. 8
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Online Prayer Ministry of Trinity Church; Gordon Lane & Diana Jodoin of Trinity Church; Suzanne George, Daniel Paul, and Amanda Paul of Christ Church
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Mar. 15
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Pastoral Care Ministries of both congregations; Barbara Hall of Trinity Church; Kathy & Bill Geisendorfer of Christ Church
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Shared Ministry Office Hours Update
Nita Niemczyk will be out of the office on Tuesday, March 10. As always, if you have a pastoral emergency, please contact Fr. Chip directly.